IDB-1c-2008-03 Interior Die Break

Description

Struck during the final year of the Lincoln Memorial Cent reverse — a design that ran from 1959 through 2008 before being replaced by the four Lincoln Bicentennial reverses of 2009 — this interior die break on the 2008 Philadelphia Mint Lincoln Cent documents a fracture within the design area of the die rather than at the rim. Interior die breaks differ fundamentally from cuds in their location: while cuds form at the die rim where stress concentrations are highest, interior breaks occur when a section of the die face away from the edge fractures and separates, leaving a cavity that produces a raised featureless island surrounded by normal design on the struck coin. The third documented IDB for the 2008-P date, this variety was cataloged by Cuds on Coins. As the closing chapter of a nearly fifty-year design run, the 2008 Lincoln Memorial Cent holds transitional significance — collectors who pursued die varieties on Memorial reverses knew that 2008 represented their last opportunity to find new varieties on this beloved design. Interior die breaks on late-series coins often result from the accumulated stress of high-volume production, and the Philadelphia Mint's output of billions of cents annually made die failures an inevitable byproduct of the coining process.

Attribution History

• Cross reference number: IDB-1c-2008-03. 06/01/2020.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References